Method and Apparatus for Dynamic Configuration Management

1. A method of managing the configuration of a network device, comprising: registering a device configuration application having a priority with a device configuration master agent and a device configuration manager, wherein the configuration application, the master agent, and the configuration manager operate independently of each other and wherein failure of one of the configuration application, the master agent and the configuration manager does not result in a single point of failure for the network device; validating received data in the master agent; passing the validated data to the application, the application converting the validated data to an internal data structure comprises formatting the validated data into at least one of an action and a parameter; and periodically requesting that a content of the internal data structure be passed to the configuration manager, the configuration manager updating a configuration in accordance with the application priority.

2. A method of claim 1 , wherein the master agent represents a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management interface and wherein registering an application comprises recording a new leaf into an SNMP management information base (MIB) tree.

3. A method of claim 1 , wherein the master agent represents a command line interface (CLI) management interface and registering an application comprises recording a new leaf into a CLI command tree.

4. A method of claim 1 , wherein the master agent represents an Extensible Markup Language (XML) management interface and registering an application comprises recording a new tag into an XML format file.

5. A method of claim 1 , wherein validating the received data comprises comparing the received data against the master agent's registration information.

6. A method of claim 1 , wherein the action and the parameter conform to a common format regardless of an origin of the received data.

7. A method of claim 6 , wherein the origin of the received data is a CLI command.

8. A method of claim 6 , wherein the origin of the received data is a SNMP request.

9. A method of claim 6 , wherein the origin of the received data is a XML request.

10. A article of manufacture comprising: a non-transitory machine-accessible medium including a data that, when accessed by a machine cause the machine to, register a device configuration application having a priority with a device configuration master agent and a device configuration manager, wherein the configuration application, the master agent, and the configuration manager operate independently of each other and wherein failure of one of the configuration application, the master agent and the configuration manager does not result in a single point of failure for the network device; validate received data in the master agent; pass the validated data to the application, the application converting the validated data to an internal data structure comprises formatting the validated data into at least one of an action and a parameter; and periodically request that a content of the internal data structure be passed to the configuration manager, the configuration manager updating a configuration in accordance with the application priority.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , wherein the data that causes the machine to register an application includes recording a new leaf into an Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management information base (MIB) tree, wherein the master agent is an SNMP management interface.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , wherein the data that causes the machine to register an application includes recording a new leaf into a command line interface (CLI) command tree, wherein the master agent is a CLI management interface.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , wherein that data that causes the machine to register an application includes recording a new tag into an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format file, wherein the master agent is an XML management interface.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , wherein the data that causes the machine to validate comprises comparing the received data against the master agent's registration information.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , wherein the action and the parameter conform to a common format regardless of an origin of the received data.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the origin of the received data is a CLI command.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the origin of the received data is a SNMP request.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the origin of the received data is a XML request.